Cancellation of World Veterinary Association Congress 2020

With a heavy heart, we regret to inform you that the 36th World Veterinary Association Congress which was originally scheduled to take place in Auckland New Zealand on 6-8 April 2020 is now cancelled

The WVA Council together with the New
Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA) has carefully followed reports concerning the
evolution and dissemination of Covid-19 around the world over the past 10
weeks. On 11th March 2020, the World Health Organisation declared
COVID-19-related infections to be a global pandemic and recommended
countries and organizations to actively implement social distancing and limit
nonessential travel to mitigate the further spread of the virus. Also, on 14th March, the
Prime Minister of New Zealand announced strict
travel restrictions.

This hard
decision to cancel the WVAC2020 was taken to prevent overseas delegates from
travelling and increasing the risk of encountering and spreading the virus. As
advocates for Public Health and the One Health concept, it is our
responsibility to safeguard the health of people around the world, including
the global veterinary workforce, and to limit the spread of COVID-19.

The WVA and
the global veterinary community support the NZVA in this difficult moment and
hope that together, the global veterinary profession in collaboration with
international health agencies, will be able to limit the spread of COVID-19
around the world.

WVA Council have indicated that NZVA will be given the opportunity to host the congress in 2023.

The WVA you and
your families to be
safe during this pandemic outbreak.